12/23/09

5 comments:

You've taken the typical religious mindset and applied it to secular people. Indoctrination into what, exactly? Critical thinking? Preference for reality over ancient myth? Decent human values rather than the whims of a petty, vindictive deity?

Please, try a little harder to understand the people you're stereotyping so wrongly. Creating a sense of community for children is a far cry from indocrination. Your faith has left you blind to any other way of thinking. That much is clear from the drivel on this website.

"Atheism is dead". Huh? Lack of belief is dead? I'd say we're on the verge of an age of enlightenment, where myth and dogma are replaced with reason and genuine compassion, except in dark corners of the world where education and real thought are disdained. You're welcome to it.

I don't mind what values or beleifs parents share with their children. As parents, they have every right to do so.

But when atheists call Christian or other theistic parents "child abusers" or "brain washers" because they teach their children exactly what they themselves beleive, and then turn around and do the same exact thing to their children, then they are hypocrites straight out!

The problem Mariono has is the blatant hypocrisy with atheists who claim Christians "brainwash" their children for teaching them their values and beliefs, when atheists themselves do the same thing to their children. The only difference you claim between the two is that atheists are right and theists are wrong. And how can you be so sure of that? You can't!

You shouldn't accuse Mariono of stereotyping when you yourself have clearly done the same thing in your comment.

Since when does critical thinking equate to indoctrination? Are you telling me Christian parents don't also (try to) teach their kids to think for themselves?

Kids are atheists/agnostics by default - until an adult mentions or shows them the word "God", the child knows nothing about the concept. If atheist parents teach their children that Gods don't exist, then they would indeed be "indoctrinating" their kids with parental beliefs. However, most atheists value critical thinking rather than indoctrination (something contemporary Christian parents can not claim as readily), and in my experience, teach their kids to weigh the evidence and make their own decisions.

If Mariano wants to claim this behavior equates to "indoctrination", then Christians are far more guilty of it than Mariano appears to be willing to admit.